Scotland trending: Today’s most talked-about stories

HOLLY LENNON

TODAY’s top stories on social media from Scotland and beyond, including weather chaos and the lucky Glasgow girl that got the dance on stage with U2

Scotland hit by wild weather

Parts of Scotland were left without power and under water after a night of torrential rain and strong winds. Weather warnings have been put in place by the Met Office including yellow wind alerts for Central Scotland, Tayside and Fife, Lothian and Borders and south-west Scotland. Gusts of up to 112 mph were recorded in the Highlands today while further south, Aberdeenshire was left without power and roads in Barrhead and Kilmarnock were completely submerged.

According to equality campaigners, Britain’s women will be effectively working for free until the end of the year due to the gender pay gap. It currently sits at 14.2 per cent, falling just five days later than last year and only two days later than in 2013 - indicating how little progress has been made, say the Fawcett Society.

Lucky U2 fan invited onstage at Glasgow show

It was a beautiful day for U2 fan Jacqueline Dickson from Fife after she was invited onstage at their recent Glasgow show. Dickson was spotted dancing near the front row at the SSE Hydro by Bono who beckoned her to join him onstage. Still a bit starstruck, she said: “It was like a dream to be on stage with the band. I absolutely love them! I’ve seen them in many different cities but you can’t beat the Scottish crowd. Just wow. It was amazing”.

Scottish delicacy could be tweaked in order to get around an American ban, according to Scotland’s rural affairs secretary. Richard Lochhead suggested that to get around the ban on importing haggis – due to the inclusion of sheep lungs – the recipe could be altered to allow Americans to sample Scotland’s national dish. If the ban is lifted, it could contribute millions to the Scottish economy.

The World Anti-Doping Agency’s independent commission has said that Russia’s athletics federation should be suspended and its track and field athletics banned from competition until the country puts an end to doping after claiming the London 2012 Olympics were “sabotaged”. The commission recommends that the Wada declare the Russian federation “non-compliant” with the global anti-doping code.